Hinson charged in death of infant

March 8, 2012

A LeFlore County man will receive a life sentence for killing his girlfriend's 3-month-old baby.
A jury of seven women and five men were sequestered Friday evening at approximately 5:30 p.m. after the conclusion of a murder trial involving defendant Aaron Ray Wesley Hinson who was accused of the murder of a 3-month-old infant.
At 9:25 p.m. the jury rendered their verdict, finding Aaron Ray Wesley Hinson, 24, guilty of first degree murder involving a child. The jury rendered a guilty plea with a recommended sentence of life.
Hinson was charged with murder in the first degree involving the death of a child after an infant succumbed to injuries inflicted by Hinson.
According to the affidavit, investigators were called to Eastern Oklahoma Medical Center on May 9, 2009, where the infant was being treated for a skull fracture that had resulted in bleeding on his brain. When District Attorneyâ€™s Investigator Travis Saulsberry arrived at the hospital he observed bruising around the infant's neck and on his lower left leg and found a shoe imprint on the baby's chest.
When Saulsberry interviewed Hinson about the cause of the baby's injuries, Hinson reportedly said he was in the house changing the baby's diaper when he noticed he wasnâ€™t breathing. Hinson claimed to have tried to perform CPR on the baby then ran outside to get help from Kayla Furney, 23, of Wilburton, the baby's mother.
The report shows that Hinson denied knowing how the baby had received a shoe print on his chest but when Saulsberry compared Hinsonâ€™s shoe with the print, he admitted to have possibly stepped on the baby during his panic.
A second interview of Hinson conducted the next day gave a second possible insight to the injuries the infant had sustained. Saulsberry reported that Hinson claimed when he went inside the home the baby was crying and he picked him up to make him stop. He told Saulsberry he may have shook the baby harder than he should have and when he put the baby in the floor he might have done so harder than he should have.
Hinson was charged with murder nine days later and was found guilty by a jury last Friday.
The verdict came after a week of deliberations, presentation of evidence and testimony from witnesses including the infant child's mother who faces charges of child abuse by enabling.
Hinson is facing imprisonment up to 45 years with a life sentence, becoming eligible for parole in 38 years.
Hinson is scheduled to appear in LeFlore County District Court on April 3 for formal sentencing.